At its core Defender remains faithful to the original coin-op classic: You fight off alien vessels while frantically trying to rescue colonists before they are whisked away and transformed into powerful mutant ships. In this reinvention, however, much more depth has been added to the gameplay formula. Now when you rescue colonists, you drop them off at factories where they'll build artillery like tanks and surface-to-air missile launchers, which can then be scooped up and dropped in strategic areas to help fend off encroaching invaders. The action is fast and the enemies furious, while a steadily increasing difficulty will keep your fingers taxed to their limits. Each of Defender's six playable craft has its own weapons, physics, and handling. Slick controls make piloting your craft as natural as breathing, and performing barrel rolls, loops and toggling through your weapon inventories become pure reflex. Ships and enemies are nicely detailed and the frame rate holds its ground against massive amounts of onscreen mayhem, but the texturing could've benefited from more polish. Laser fire and other sound effects are reminiscent of the original game—a nice touch, although overall the sounds score as simply competent when they should have been monstrous. None of this, however, detracts from the non-stop action, which is what Defender indubitably excels in. Definitely worth a go.
